Thang Loi Resort Phu Quoc Island

... we finally came to a small roadside shop, selling ... pepper! The guy there spoke a little English, and said follow me and I'll show you my plantation. He hopped onto his bike, and we blasted off into the bush trying hard to keep up as we passed through farms, over streams before finally reaching a very regularly arranged pepper plantation. The plants are grown in a manner reminiscent of wine grapes. The farmer picked us some sprigs and we munched raw green ...

... the fuggy smell hit us like a slap in the face&#8212;if you&#8217;ve never smelled a large fish sauce factory in full swing on a tropical summer day, you simply don&#8217;t know what you&#8217;re missing. Bill and I immediately bumbled into each other like stooges, blindly shoving one another to get back in the van and get the door shut. Meanwhile the driver was having a total giggle fest at our expense. Onward James! <br><br>We got back to the resort in early afternoon, just in ...

... stamped and then took a MotoTaxi (Moped) to the town of Chau Doc just inside Vietnam and at the start of the Mekong Delta. Got a lovely room in this cool wee guesthouse with a balcony again so I went to take a picture of the view only to find that I had left our camera in the taxi at the Vietnam border!!!! All our photos from the last few weeks in Melbourne and all of Asia gone. Or so I thought. I rang the taxi company and the driver had not returned so I got ...

One of my favourite, completely unexpected, bizarre discoveries on this trip so far was the preferred clothing choice of Cambodian women: western style pyjamas. Short or long sleeve tops with matching pants, in a diverse array of colours, teddy bears, sheep, and other very distinctly sleepwear-ish patterns. Women young and old could be seen all over Sihanoukville and Kampot sporting this interesting fashion statement at all hours of the day and night ...

... along a highway westwards to Sihanoukville, to use up some of the extra gas. The entrance to Bokor national Park was passed. Once we found we were 'going nowhere,' so to speak, we turned around and headed back.<br>deposited bikes, although would be back in the morning, used a Net bar across the road, headed back to our rooms and bumped into a newly-arrived French couple - two women who'd visited Battambang. There main purpose for ...

... is the premium stuff, as it is dried and soaked, and has the skins removed from the seeds. It's a much purer and subtler flavor. Raw green pepper is also good, although be careful how many corns you down well wandering around the plantation, as it will catch up with you.<br><br>My one regret about my visit to Kampot was that Bokor was closed to all tours during the time I was there. I hear it's being developed, but I would have loved to have seen it.<br>

... and DK got HONG KONG EGG wvhich in fact is just sponge cake with icing and a glace cherry on top! (i told him he should have got the banana cake!) We went to ROBINSONS for a drink - I had COKE - I know! but i needed something gassy to make me burp and it did and i feel a little better for it :) DK had a couple of beers and then we walked to the chemist to get something to settle my stomach - a grey vanilla powdered clay seemed to be order of the day 3 x a day just for 1 day. Home ...

... to HCMC. From there we fly to Hong Kong, to catch our low-cost flight back to London, and our friend Milly's wedding. <br><br>(Later) <br><br>It was great to see that the Mighty Reds managed to scrape a late equaliser in injury time at home against Spurs, what the hell is going on Rafa?! Gooners &amp; Mancs &amp; Chelski all won, as expected, so we need to sort our lives out, a bit like H in the Fantasy League ;) <br><br>lots of love, <br><br><br>Al &amp; Katie xx

... So we ended up getting flights on separate planes to an island named PHU QUOC!!! But in the end we both made it... and oh god were we happy about that!<br><br>Ahhhh, Phu Quoc... this place is perfectly wonderful... plagued with beautiful beach after beautiful beach. many of those beaches are very lonely as well =) ( not to worry, i kept them good company!!!) NOT TO MENTION MY KILLER TAN, the white sand, non-existence waves, and crystal clear ...